Trump wants to reopen Alcatraz

In a social media post Sunday night, President Trump directed federal agencies to reopen Alcatraz, one of the most infamous prisons in US history, in order to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

Alcatraz, a history

Alcatraz Island first housed prisoners during the Civil War and served as a military prison until 1933, when it was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Over the next three decades, it became widely known for holding notorious criminals like Al Capone and George “Machine-Gun” Kelly.

• Alcatraz, as a maximum-security prison surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, was a “last resort” facility where most of the ~275 inmates were those who refused to conform to rules at other federal jails.
• In 1962, AG Robert F. Kennedy ordered Alcatraz to be closed as a federal prison due to its steep maintenance costs, as well as its vulnerability to escapes—especially after three inmates that year had dug through prison walls with spoons and floated off the island on a makeshift raft, never to be seen again.
• Alcatraz later re-opened in 1973 as a tourist attraction under the National Park Service. It currently generates tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue from visitors.

California leaders largely shrugged off Trump’s decree. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office dismissed the idea as a “distraction,” while Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the Alcatraz plan is “not a serious one.”

Looking ahead…The US Bureau of Prisons is currently assessing the next steps for implementing Trump’s Alcatraz plan.